Just Another Day
By: Rita Fernando
Disclaimer: Star trek: Voyager characters. Don't own 'em. Don't plan on buyin' them. Wish I owned Harry especially.Just borrowin' em.
Um, go easy on me. It's my first fan fic. Now, on with the show!!
Light years away in the delta quadrant, Captain Janeway and commander Tuvok stood in an alien docking port speaking to an alien ambassador.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Ambassador Glehn." Said Janeway with pure gratitude on her face. "We appreciate your helpfulness. We really needed those supplies. Thank you."
The alien nodded. "You are welcome Captain Janeway. We will always be open to trade with your species. The seeds you have traded us will supply us for a long time." He bowed. "Good travels, Voyagers."
The captain nodded and followed Tuvok into the shuttle. Chakotay, Ensign Paris and Lieutenant Torres were already inside. "Take us home Mr. Paris."
Tom nodded. "Yes ma'am" He took the shuttle up and out of the alien space station and into space. When they drew away from the station Tom initiated the warp engines. The Delta Flyer sped off in a streak of light.
When they reached warp, Janeway turned in her seat and looked at Lieutenant Torres. "How are the materials we picked up?"
Torres looked up from her crouched position before a large mass of equipment. Wires, tubes, metal, coils and such, took up every inch of space they had in the Delta Flyer. Torres wiped her grimy hands on her uniform and responded. "Not bad captain. With some work I think we can integrate all of it into Voyager."
"I'm just glad they had a supply of dilitium in store." Commented Chakotay.
Torres grinned. "There's enough to supply us for months." She was like a kid in a candy store with all the gadgets they were able to get. It was almost as good as the salvage job they did on the Borg ships they encountered earlier in their travels. "More importantly, we can finally fix the engines." Weeks ago, voyager was caught in an extremely powerful ion storm damaging vital systems. All the other systems were intact and running, but the engines were of another matter. For 2 weeks Voyager had limped along at sublight speeds. All they had were maneuvering thrusters. They just didn't have enough parts for the repairs. What little they had was put into restoring the hull breaches.
"ETA?" asked Janeway.
"5 hours captain." Reported Chakotay. "Smooth sailing all the way."
"Sailing, commander?" questioned Tuvok. "There is no wind in deep space therefore the use of sails is-
"We get it, Tuvok." Cut in Paris. Tuvok simply lifted an eyebrow.
Janeway slouched back in her seat, crossed her legs and put her hands in back of her head. "Well, I guess we can relax then."
"Illogical captain." Countered Tuvok. "We must not let our guard down. We have not explored this area of space satisfactory enough to deem it safe."
Tom rolled his eyes. "Loosen up, Tuvok."
Janeway nodded. "Listen to the man, commander. Fine. If you don't want to take the time to do, whatever Vulcans do to relax, while there's no crisis at hand, fine. It's a good opportunity though."
Chakotay grinned. "Speaking of crisis's, I wonder how Harry's doing?"
Torres snorted. "Probably has the ship topsy turvy by now."
Janeway's face had a look of sympathy on Harry's behalf. "I'm sure he's doing fine." She had left Ensign Kim to command voyager while she and the higher-ups of Voyager negotiate the crucial trade deal.
Back on Voyager, Harry sat in the captain's seat tapping at the arm console. He stifled a yawn behind his hand. Who would have thought being in command could be so boring? He thought to himself. He looked around the bridge. "Anything to report, Ensign?" he called to the crewman at his usual station.
"No sir."
Harry turned back around. Unable to sit still for long, Ensign Kim got to his feet and circled the bridge glancing at every station. Kim folded his arms. He tapped his combadge. "Kim to Carey. How's the engines coming?"
"Coming along. All we can do is keep them from falling apart till the lieutenant comes back. Until then, there's not much we can do."
Kim nodded to himself. "Good. Keep it up. Kim out."
The Turbolifts suddenly opened to welcome a visitor to the bridge. Seven of Nine strode up to Kim and rigidly held out a PADD. "Ensign Kim. I am in need of your assistance."
Harry quirked a smile and took the PADD. "What? Not even a 'good afternoon'?"
Seven sighed aspirated. "If you must, 'Good afternoon' then."
Harry smiled. "That's better. Good afternoon to you too Seven."
"I do not see why one must state the time of day it is when it is easily accessed by the computer. Though, why humans wish to refer to a time by the position of the sun when we are in space still eludes me."
Harry shook his head. "Let's just say it's a human thing, Seven." He looked down at the PADD. "What's this?"
"It is the report on the damage done to Astrometrics. The Captain requested it before she departed. Seeing that you are in command, I thought you might like to view it on terms."
Harry nodded. "That's thoughtful of you. Thanks."
"You are welcome." Replied Seven. She cracked a tiny smile.
Suddenly, breaking up their conversation, the ship was rocked hard to the starboard.
Harry and Seven stumbled a bit but caught themselves before they could fall. "Report!" ordered Harry as he scrambled down to the command level.
The ensign at tactical looked frantic. "Sir, one alien craft approaching." He looked up apologetically at Kim. "Sir, I couldn't detect it on sensors. There was nothing-
Harry waved him off. "It's alright, ensign. Who are they?"
Seven went to sensors and reported. "They are of unknown origin. They are warp capable. A cloaking device is detected." She looked up at Kim. "That would explain why we did not detect them."
Not looking back, Harry called out. "Open hailing frequencies."
"Hailing frequencies open, sir."
Harry turned to the viewscreen. "This is Ensign Harry Kim of the federation Starship Voyager. Identify yourselves. Why have you attacked us? Respond." Harry glanced back at the communication officer.
"They're replying."
"On screen."
"Voyager." Said a hideous looking alien. Well, at least to humanoid standards. They sort of looked like Species 8472 except the fact they were someway or fuzzy. Brown blue streaked fur covered every inch of their body. "You are in Tyrien space. Leave at once."
"Sorry, we can't do that just yet." Said Harry. "Our ship's heavily damaged. We need to make repairs."
"Unacceptable." Snapped the Tyrien. "You must leave immediately."
"We can't do that." Said Harry. "Our engines are heavily damaged. We can't go anywhere."
"We'll tractor you out of our system." Said the alien.
"Sir?" called the ensign at tactical. Harry signaled Communications to mute the channel.
"What?"
"Sir, the region of Tyrien space is over 30 square light years extending from here to 20 light years back. If they're going to tractor us, they're gong to take us in the other direction."
"We can't let that happen, can we." Said Harry more to himself. He turned back to the viewscreen and signaled Communications to take off the mute.
"Thanks for the offer, but we can make it out on our own. We'll be able to be up and running within 10 hours."
"Unacceptable." Said the Alien. "Leave or be destroyed."
"Like I said." Persuaded Harry. "We are not leaving until-
"You will be destroyed then." Cut in the alien. He cut the communications too.
Harry frowned and turned to tactical. Ensign Lang looked up at him alarmed. "Sir, alien ship powering up."
"Red Alert. Shields up." Ordered Kim.
"No can do sir." Said Ensign Murphy at the engineering station. "Well, not very well sir. Shields are only at 20 percent."
Harry didn't hesitate. "Fine, put them up. Some protection is better ten none right?" not really expecting an answer, Kim turned to the helm. "Hamilton. Do we have any mobility?"
Hamilton turned around. "Some. Not an awful lot. Just enough to nudge us a few meters."
"Ensign!" called Lang. "Enemy ship firing."
"Brace for impact!" called Kim grabbing the railing.
Voyager was rocked violently sending a couple of crewmen sprawling on the deck. Harry's head shot up to look at the screen. "Ready Phasers. Fire!"
Nothing happened. Kim whipped around to face Lang who was hanging his head as if not wanting to deliver the news. Harry sighed. "No Phasers either?"
Lang shook her head. "Not much. We can fire a shot if we let the Phaser banks build up."
Harry set his jaw. "Build it up then."
"Enemy ship firing." announced Seven.
"Evasive maneuvers." Ordered Harry. He paused. "As evasive as you can get."
The ship barely moved as the shot neared them. It hit Voyager's port bow rocking the ship violently.
"Shields down." Reported Seven.
"Great." mumbled Kim sarcastically. The ship rocked again. "What was that?" he called out.
"Hull breach on decks 6 and 7." Reported Dorado from OPS.
"Seal them off." Ordered Harry. "Kim to engineering. Any chance of getting the engines back?"
"Not a chance." Replied Carey. "Not until we get the parts."
"Then focus on the shields and thrusters." Said Kim. "Kim out." He turned around to face lang. "Ensign. Work on finding any weak points in their ship. We may not be able to do much, but I want to know what to aim for if we can."
Harry ran a hand thought his hair. It was going to be a long day
Getting away form the noise of the battle waging between Voyager and the Tyriens, things were relatively quiet on the Delta Flyer. Janeway had settled back in her chair and was reading the holonovel Neelix gave her for her birthday. Chakotay and Tom were monitoring the ship controls leaving the rest of them to whatever they wanted to do. Tuvok was reading a Security report rather relaxed. So that's what Vulcans do to relax. Mused B'Elanna. She, on the other hand, was also doing reports. Certainly not for fun. She hadn't had time to finish the engineering crew report ever since they met up with the ion storm. Bad enough, it was due on Janeway's desk tomorrow. She was too busy running around engineering to even think about finishing it. She figured she'd write it now seeing that her beloved engines were going to get all her attention as soon as they get back. She took up her PADD. So far, she didn't think anyone was in need of any shift or duty changes. Chakotay took care of that. No one was due in for a promotion, the chain of command was pretty well established. Out of a wave of curiosity, B'Elanna pulled up a chart of the senior officer's chain of command. Captain Janeway, then commander Chakotay, Lt. Cmd. Tuvok, yeah, yeah, she knew that. Now lets see. She looked at the bottom of the list. It just listed Tom and Harry's and her names on the same row and ranking. She lifted her head. "Captain?"
"Mmm?" mumbled Janeway not looking up from her holonovel. A second later she lifted her head. "What is it B'Elanna?"
B'Elanna waved the PADD at the captain. "I was doing my Engineering division report when I came across the Chain of command chart for the senior officers. She handed Janeway the PADD. "What in the world happened down there?"
The captain took the PADD and looked at it's read outs. "Hmm, Chakotay, did you handle this?" she tapped the first officer's shoulder. Chakotay turned in his seat and took the PADD.
He frowned. "No. I thought you handled the rank juggling this time."
"I thought you did." Mumbled Janeway taking back the PADD.
"Who out ranks who?" said Torres.
Janeway grinned. "Why, B'Elanna. I thought they taught the chain of command the first week at the academy."
Torres frowned. "They did. This is certainly not-
"I was kidding B'Elanna." Cut in Janeway.
Tom turned around. "Isn't it supposed to be B'Elanna, me then Harry?"
Tuvok looked up from his PADD and said. "I believed it was Lieutenant Torres, Ensign Kim then Ensign Paris.
"I thought it was Ensign Kim then Lieutenant Torres then Paris." Added Chakotay.
Janeway frowned and shook her head. "This is the most muddled chain of command I have ever seen." She glanced in Tom's direction. "It was all fine until you um, you know."
Tom shrugged.
"Or is it Tom then B'Elanna then Harry?" asked Chakotay "Tom had the higher rank in the Alpha Quad.
"Shouldn't it be Harry then B'Elanna then me?" asked Tom. Janeway looked at him oddly.
"How do you figure that?"
"Harry's an actual Ensign. B'Elanna's an Acting Lt. jg. and I'm an ensign."
"Logical." Commented Tuvok.
The captain stared at the PADD. "Then how did this get so muddled up? I can't have two ensigns. Nor can I have a Ensign ranking over a Lieutenant." She shook her head. "It's either someone has been long over due for a promotion, or someone's in need of a promotion."
Back at Voyager, Kim ran a hand though his tousled hair. For the past hour, he and the rest of the Voyager crew had been franticly trying to patch up the ship. He looked up from his OPS station and tapped his commbadge. "Engineering. Report." Ordered Harry.
"The usual, Ensign." Replied Carey. "Warp off line, shields off line, impulse engines off line, decks 7 and 8 have no life support, Torpedo bay damaged, Phaser-
"Any good news." Cut in Harry impatiently.
There was a pause. "Life support's still on line. We have maneuvering thrusters, which'll take us a few kilometers at most. How's that for good news?"
Harry sighed. "Good enough. Compared to everything else that's music to my ears.
Kim stepped away from his console to let Dorado take over. He walked over to the command level. He turned back around to Lang. "What are the Tyriens up to?"
Lang shook her head. "They're still going at it, sir. A few more shots like the those, we'll be space dust." The ship rocked. Fortunately, the blasts of fire had taken an interval of one or two shots per minute. Kim figured they wanted Voyager to go down, slowly and painfully. Harry wished Tom were there. He was the best pilot he knew. Luckily, he had the next best CONN officer at the helm. Hamilton moved the ship in every way possible to minimize the amount of hits they took. He was doing a pretty good job of it too, going on the fact he could only move the ship few meters a minute.
"Hamilton. Any idea how to speed us up? Maneuverability?"
Hamilton barely looked up from his console totally focused on keeping the ship from being pummeled. "None that I know of sir."
"No sign of breaking off?" asked Kim.
"There are signs of advancing." Reported Lang. She looked worriedly at Kim. "What are we going to do? We can't fight back and we can't retreat. It's impossible."
Harry held up a finger at her. "Ah, not impossible. Improbable, yes. Impossible, no. There is always a solution."
"Then what is it?" countered Lang.
Harry sat down in the 'big chair' and ran his options though his head. Mostly, inventory. We have maneuverability thrusters, torpedoes, Holodeck, not that that's going to help. Thought Harry. Suddenly he got an idea. "Kim to Carey. How fast can we go with maneuvering thrusters?"
There was a slight pause. "3 meters a second. Why do you ask."
"Just an idea. Kim out." Harry whipped around to face Lang. "We have torpedoes, right?" Lang nodded. Harry tapped his commbadge once more. "Kim to Seven of nine. Report to the bridge."
"Sir?" piped up Dorado from OPS. "What's this all about?"
Harry responded. "You'll see as soon as Seven gets up here."
The Turbolift opened and Seven stepped out. Her hair was a bit mussed from the repairs she was helping with in Engineering and Astrometrics, but otherwise, her same old Borg self. She reported with a crisp statement. "I am here, ensign. State my reasons for being summoned."
Harry hopped the railing and stood face to face with Seven. "It's possible, to refit a torpedo, correct?"
"It would depend on what, you are planing to refit it with." Countered Seven as she clung to the railing.
"Can you adapt one of our torpedoes to carry a batch of holo-emiters?" asked Harry.
Seven looked bewildered. "Yes, but-
Harry cut her off by snapping an order to lang. "Lang. Get a torpedo into the prep room."
Lang looked confused for a microsecond but followed orders. "Aye sir." A second later. "Torpedo in prep room one."
"What are you planning to do?" asked Hamilton turning in his seat.
Harry tapped his commbadge before responding. "Kim to Carey. I've got a plan so listen up." He looked around the bridge. "OK here's the plan people. Seven, take a team down to prep and equip the torpedo with holo-emitters possible to emit a holographic image to the exact proportions of Voyager."
"A decoy." Said Seven.
Harry snapped his fingers. "Exactly. "We send the decoy out while we inch Voyager into a good position of attacking the weak spot, which is." Harry looking at Lang to fill in the blank.
Lang tapped a panel and replied. "Their main engines. They're the two cylinders aft of the ship."
Harry nodded. "Good. Hamilton. You'll bring us right in front of their engines. As soon as we get a god shot, we'll fire, disabling them."
"How are we to get in proximity of the ship?" questioned Seven.
Harry quirked a grin and said. "With a little illusion." He started to explain. "We launch the holo torpedo. Seconds later we activate the hologram and we move Voyager to an attack position."
Hamilton broke into a grin. "You're putting the hologram in place of voyager before they notice it."
Harry nodded.
"But the Tyriens'll see us as we pull away." Noted Lang.
"No they won't." said Harry. "We'll have our cloaking field up." At that, all of the officers lifted their eyebrows in disbelief.
"Uh, isn't it, against regulations and a bunch of treaties?" asked Hamilton.
Harry nodded. "First off. The Federation is 63 thousand light years away. And second. It's the only idea I can think of."
"You have a valid point." Agreed Seven.
Harry nodded once more looking quickly at all of the officer's faces for agreement. Which he all found. "Good. Get to work. Seven, Murphy, get down to prep and get the holo-emiters in the torpedo. Lang, boost up the Phaser banks. I want as much firepower as we can get. Carey, See if you could boost what speed we've got. The faster we get this done, the better."
The officers broke away and got to work.
Harry sat down in his seat and activated the arm console. Looking around, Harry secretly crossed his fingers.
"I wonder what trouble Harry's getting' Voyager into now." Said tom.
"Why do you think something bad's happening?" asked Janeway. "If anything did happen, Harry could handle it."
Tom shrugged. "It's just that me and Harry always seem to be magnets for trouble. Well, ok, me more, but that's not the point. Ask the doc one day and he'll tell you we're the most seen crewmen in sickbay."
"That may be true." Agreed Chakotay.
"Do you have any idea how many times Harry died?" asked Tom incredulously.
Janeway frowned. "Unfortunately, I know he's died twice for the ship. Once from an alien temporal pod but was brought back by the doctor and the last was when he was repairing a hull breach and was sucked into space. An alternate reality double replaced him." Said Janeway with a grimace. She hated thinking about that particular incident. Having to put a death certificate in his records and also put in commendations after it was unsettling to her.
Tom shook his head. "Not two. The doc ran some scans on him on his last physical and I, uh, happen to see it. Turns out he found evidence in Harry's system that showed multiple hints of 7 cardiac arrests. Well, shadows of them from alternate realities and such."
Janeway, Chakotay's and B'Elanna's jaw dropped open. "You're kidding." Said B'Elanna.
"Wow." Was all Chakotay said.
Janeway was silent. He died 7 times for the ship. That has got to be the most dedicated young man I've ever met. 7 times. mused Janeway. He's never said anything about it. Nor has the doctor shown any report. I guess he didn't want to be treated any differently. Not bad.for an ensign.
"Kim to Seven. How's the holo torpedo coming?" asked Harry from the bridge.
Seven responded with. "It is almost completed. There is one detail we cannot correct."
"What's that?" asked Harry worriedly.
"The holo projection has a range approximately .51 meters less then the dimensions of Voyager. It will not be a perfect match."
"It's close enough. Keep me posted. Kim out." Harry got up form the command chair and went overt to the engineering section. He looked over Murphy's shoulder. Murphy looked up. "Sir, I have a problem here."
Harry's forehead creased as he looked down at the console. "What's the problem?"
Murphy pointed out some thing on the panel. "It's the cloaking device we set up. It doesn't work. Something's wrong with the transmitting bands. One of the links are off. You know if one's off, every thing goes out. I can't find the bad strand."
Harry put a hand on Murphy's shoulder and nudged her aside. "Let me try." Harry's fingers flew over the console adjusting the bands, tinkering with it here, there, trying to get it to merge wit the rest of them to create a cloak. After five minutes Harry bit his lip. This wasn't going to do. He started scanning another section looking for irregularities. He ran a hand though his hair. He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and looked down. His eyes were a bit blurred from the rubbing when Harry noticed a red mark on the screen. Harry blinked and looked back down. The red blip was still there. Harry grinned. He tapped a few controls and corrected the glitch. He tapped in a final command and looked at Murphy who had been watching intently beside him. "There. That should do it."
Murphy looked at it. "How'd you do that?"
"Luck." The Turbolifts opened and Seven came in.
"The Holo torpedo is complete. It is ready to deploy on your command."
Harry nodded. "Good." Harry stood behind Hamilton. "How fast can we go?"
"Full impulse now." Replied Hamilton.
"Pretty go for only maneuvering thrusters." Harry clapped Hamilton on the back. "Good work." He tuned around to regard everyone on the bridge. "All right people. This is it. Seven. Get the torpedo ready to launch from the cargobay on my command. Hamilton. At the exact same time, Murphy, engage the cloak. Hamilton'll, take us within range of the weak spot. Then Lang, you'll fire whatever energy we built up in our Phaser banks. Understood?" With out hesitation, al the officers on the bridge replied with a chorus of 'Aye's and 'yes sir's. Harry smiled and turned around to Dorado.
"Open a channel to the Tyrien. I want to give them one last chance." Dorado complied and tapped a right hand button.
"Channel open.
"This is Voyager. We are requesting you to break off your attack."
"They're responding."
"On screen."
"Voyager. Who are you to make demands?" said the Tyrien on the verge of laughing. "You're the one stranded with no power. Weaklings. You can't do a thing accept await your death."
"Well, we'll see about that. If there's only one thing you learn about the crew of Voyager, it'll be we don't give up very easily."
The Tyrien laughed and cut the link. As if a response, the ship fired once more at Voyager. Hamilton saw it and brought the ship hard to port. Harry gripped the command chair's armrest and gritted his teeth. "Hamilton. I'd appreciate it if you went a tiny bit easier on the controls."
"Sorry sir."
"Seven, get ready to launch. Murphy, ready the cloak, Hamilton, you know what to do."
"Aye sir." Chorused Hamilton and Murphy.
"At the count of three, we launch the torpedo, the cloak goes up, Hamilton hits the thrusters and Murphy gets Phasers ready." Announced Kim. "Timing is everything." He looked about the bridge. Seeing the determined faces he nodded. "Alright. One. Two. Three. NOW."
Three keys were jabbed all at one time. The holo torpedo drifted out into space and activated as the cloaking screens went up. Hamilton took the ship at the speed of a snail compared to their usual speed. Within the minute, Voyager was near the ship and around to the back.
"Any sign the Tyriens suspect anything?" asked Harry.
"None." Reported Seven.
Hamilton briefly glanced back at the officer in command. "Sir, we're in position."
Harry nodded. "Murphy."
Murphy took the hint and tapped a panel. "Firing."
A single thick red beam lashed out from voyager's hull. It struck the Tyrien's engines right in the center. The enemy ship rocked with the impact. It's blue green shield shimmered and disappeared completely.
"Direct hit, Sir." Announced Lang who felt someone had to state the obvious.
"Status of Tyrien ship?" asked Harry.
"Shields down, engines down, weapons still functioning though." Reported Dorado.
"Ensign." Called lang. She tapped in something on her panel and said. "I think you should see this." She brought the image on the main viewer.
It was the Tyrien ship. Its Phaser ports were glowing a deep red. "Sir, they're getting ready to fire."
"Do they know where we are." Asked Kim worriedly.
"NO. Our cloaking device is still functional therefore, they cannot detect us." Stated Seven.
Harry looked back at the screen. The ship alien ship started shooting into space at nothing in particular. It was like a firework show Harry had seen in a holo program once. "They're shooting blind." Mused Harry.
"They are not blind." Said Seven. "Their optical sensors are functioning. However, if you are referring to their actions, they are shooting randomly. It is an inefficient method."
"I'll second that." Replied Harry. "Effective though, if they accidentally find us."
Seven looked oddly at him. "It is highly unlikely they will randomly fire at our positi-
At that very moment, the ship was rocked by a random Phaser blast.
Seven steadied herself against the console and said. "I could be wrong.
Harry grinned back at her for a nanosecond then went back to business. "Can they detect us?" the ship rocked once more. Harry answered his own question. "I guess so."
"Sir, our cloaking device went off line. We're sitting ducks!" called Murphy.
"Hamilton, get us out of here." Ordered Harry.
"No can do." replied Hamilton, his fingers flying over the controls. "The best I can do is back us up a few meters."
"Do it then." Commanded Harry.
"Aye, aye."
The Tyriens are following us." Announced lang. "They're trying to corner us."
"There are no corners in space." Pointed out Seven.
"Well, either way, we're going to be destroyed." Pointed put Lang.
"We are NOT going to be destroyed!" snapped Harry. He walked up to the from of her console. "We've gotten out of worse situations before, and this should be no different. The captain may not be here, but I am. And that's all that matters. We'll find a way out of this." After Harry finished letting off his steam Seven got Harry's attention.
"I am preparing to fire Phasers."
Harry did a double take at her. "You what?"
"I am preparing to release the second blast from the port Phaser bank."
"But I thought that was damaged." Said Harry a little bit confused.
"I repaired it. I began to build up energy in it approximately one hour ago when I first completed repairs. I believe it has sufficient force to destroy the Tyriens."
Still perplexed Harry called over his shoulder. "Hamilton. Prepare to back us off. There's gonna be a few fireworks."
"Aye, sir." Replied Hamilton as he and the other officers directed their full attention to their consoles.
On impulse Harry walked in back of Seven of nine and briefly clapped a hand on her shoulder. He grinned and gave her a quick peck on the cheek in appreciation. Before Seven could react, Harry said. "You know you're the greatest, Seven." Harry walked quickly to the command deck. "Seven, target critical systems."
"Uh, yes, it is done." Replied Seven slightly flustered.
"Fire."
The second and last blast shot out of the port side striking the Tyrien ship hard. One after another, explosions erupted on the ship's hull. One by one the ship hull blew apart until the alien craft was destroyed in one big explosion.
Hamilton pulled Voyager a tiny bit back from harms way then let out a loud. "Woohoo!"
Dorado laughed along with him releasing all the tension the battle brought them.
Harry permitted himself a tiny smile as he walked back to the 'big chair'. He let out a sigh of relief. "Stand down Red alert. Congratulations everyone. We're still alive."
A good number of the bridge crew laughed, including Seven. Harry grinned as well. "Ok, now, we have to act like kids before their parents come home. Clean up. I want the cloak taken off line and shields repaired ASAP. I want the ship as in as good or better condition as it was before this whole thing started." Harry got up and headed for the back OPS station to help Dorado. "Let's get to work people."
Captain Janeway stretched her arms above her head. Chakotay grinned at her. "Comfy?"
Janeway settled back in her seat. "Very. I actually got to finish my book with out any ship crisis demanding my attention." She smiled. "It's like I was an ensign for a day."
"Do you think I could be captain for a day?" Joked Tom.
"Don't even think about it, Tom." Laughed Janeway.
"Harry got to be captain for a day." Pointed our Tom with a grin.
"Which will end." prodded Janeway.
Tom turned back to his panel with its knobs and switches. "ETA right about.now." Tom placed his hands above the panel and started pulling, yanking, pushing at the various levers and buttons. "I'm taking us out of Warp." Announced Tom. The ship dropped out of warp right near Voyager's position. "Welcome home." Tom brought up the image of voyager on the viewscreen. What greeted them was a very curious sight.
To the side was good ol' Voyager. It drifted serenely in space. There was not a single EPS conduit or a gel pack out of place. Not a single sign of damage was apparent on the hull. In fact, it looked in better condition then they had left it. The thing that really caught the officer's attentions was the heap of metal that could have been called a ship once upon a time. It was a total wreck. Debris drifted all around it increasing the mess.
Captain Janeway's jaw dropped slightly open along with everyone else's, besides Tuvok. "What the hell happened here?" Janeway choked out.
"Hate to say I told you so." Mumbled Tom.
"Voyager is hailing us." Announced Tuvok.
"On screen." Ordered Janeway.
The view screen flickered showing Ensign Harry Kim standing before them. His calm, fresh, intelligent face smiled at them. "Welcome back captain. Did you have a nice trip?"
Janeway adopted a confused expression. "Yes, went according to plan." She said quickly. "Now, what I'd like to know, is what the hell went on here?!"
"It's a long story captain." Replied Harry. Getting off the subject, Harry looked at a panel. "You're cleared for docking port 1. I'm sending down crews to help unload."
Janeway wagged a finger at him. "I'm not done with you yet, ensign."
Harry sighed. "Don't I know it captain. Don't I know it."
The Delta Flyer landed like a feather in docking port 1. As Tom shut down the engines, the rest of the officers disembarked. Torres started issuing orders to the crews preparing to unload the precious supplies.
"Listen up everybody. There's two bins on the aft storage compartments. I want those to be unloaded first. These are the Engine parts. I want you to begin integrating them into the system with in the hour. We were also able to get dilithium. That's the next priority. Oh, yeah, next to the engine parts there's a bin of shield and Phaser parts." B'Elanna started back into the ship to get the containers when she over heard Carey mumbling something. "What is it Carey?"
Carey shrugged. "Just said we could've used those shield and Phaser parts a little while ago."
B'Elanna frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "And what the hell happened a few hours ago. What's the deal with the junk heap out there?"
Carey quickened his pace. "Let's get to work, sir."
As Torres coordinated the teams, Janeway looked around the bay as if inspecting for anything unusual. She looked a bit skeptical. She laid a hand on Chakotay's shoulder. "It's time we had a little chat with a certain Ensign."
Chakotay bowed his head slightly and gestured to the door. "After you, captain."
Janeway shook her head and with Chakotay, Tuvok, and Tom in tow, headed straight for the bridge.
Harry was working at his, no, the captain's arm console when the sound of doors opening took him by surprise. He quickly got up as the Captain entered the bridge. He drew himself to attention. "Captain."
Janeway nodded to him. "Ensign Kim. All systems stable?"
"Aye, captain."
She nodded crisply at him. "Good. My ready room. Now." Without waiting for a response, she made a beeline for the room on her right. Tuvok and Chakotay went to their usual stations. Tom walked down to relieve Hamilton who gratefully gave up the seat. Harry didn't blame him. Hamilton hadn't left his seat since the whole thing started. Tom grinned at Harry. "Ooh, you're in for it now."
"Shut up tom." Shot Harry.
"Yes sir." Laughed Tom
"Since when am I sir?"
"I dunno."
Harry went into the ready room and stood directly in front of the captain's desk. The same desk the captain was sitting behind.
Harry held out a PADD to the captain. "Here captain. It's a report covering everything from the time you left 'till now."
Janeway accepted the PADD and glanced at it. "Thank you ensign. I was about to ask you to make one and hand it in to me a few hours from now." She smiled. "I guess I don't have to now."
Harry smiled. "Will that be all captain?" he asked.
"Yes, now go get some sleep." Said Janeway. "That's an order."
Harry smiled. "Yes captain." With that, Harry turned on his heel and left.
Hour's later Janeway stepped into the mess hall with Harry's report in hand. She picked up a cup of coffee and some dinner. Not really looking at the mystery meal she looked around the crowded room. Harry, Seven, Tom and B'Elanna were at one end, a few junior crewmen on the other and Chakotay to the side. Seeing his captain, Chakotay invited her over.
Janeway set down her tray. "Morning Chakotay."
"Good morning Kathryn." Smiled Chakotay.
Janeway held up the report. "Did you have a chance to read this?"
He nodded. "A couple times."
Janeway shook her head. "Who knew so much could happen in 12 hours?"
"Only the crew of Voyager." Replied Chakotay. Seeing the puzzled look on Janeway's face he explained. "We're basically a magnet for adventure. There hasn't been a day when we had completely nothing to do. Okay, besides the time-
"I get it, Chakotay." Interrupted Janeway. "Apparently, the person who's attracted the most action, is Ensign Kim." She laughed.
Chakotay looked over his shoulder at Harry's table. At the moment, he and Tom were in a heated debate on whether who won the last game of pool. He leaned closer to the captain. "Did you give Harry a commendation?"
Janeway took a sip of her coffee. "Uh-huh. Deserves it. He did a lot in the battle. Handled himself well. Handled command extraordinarily."
"If you don't mind me asking, but, why is he still an ensign. An officer with that much potential should be at least lieutenant." Asked Chakotay.
"I haven't a clue. I've been thinking about that all night. I don't see how I over looked him during crew evaluations. That man's gone above and light years beyond the call of duty, and, he's an ensign. He's made numerous contributions to the ship, a valuable crewmember, and more value then we give him credit for. Far more."
Chakotay shook his head. "Have you figured out what to do with the muddled Chain of command? We just can't leave it like that."
Captain Janeway glanced at the chart with the two ensigns, one Lt. JG and a Borg. "I think I can kill two birds with one stone."
A few hours later Harry walked around the bridge. At least this time, they weren't in the heat of battle. Harry sat back down in the command chair and sighed. That's that. He checked Chrono on the arm console. Hmm, Chakotay should be coming to take the Command soon.
The Turbolifts opened and Tuvok and tom stepped though. Harry stood up ready to relinquish command to Tuvok when Tuvok waved him to sit back down. "Sit ensign. My command shift has not begun yet."
"Don't look at me." Said Tom. "I just gotta check somethin'."
Harry shrugged and sat back down. While waiting, Harry worked on something on the console. He was so immersed in what he was doing, He didn't hear the Turbolift open and B'Elanna and Seven came in.
"Hi Starfleet, having fun in the big chair?" teased B'Elanna.
"Tons." Replied Harry sarcastically. "So what are you doing up here Maquis? How 'bout you, Sev?"
"We were told to-
"Uh, lets go, Seven." Cut in B'Elanna gently leading Seven to the engineering section at the far corner of the room. "We have to check up on something."
"Uh, yeah." Said Harry to himself as he turned back around in his chair. A second later, the turbolifts opened again. Harry lifted an eyebrow and turned around.
"Ensign Kim." Snapped an authoritative voice.
Harry sprung to his feet. "Sir!"
The captain emerged in front of the doors. Behind her, Chakotay stepped up to her side. Captain Janeway placed her hands on her hips. "What are you doing, ensign?"
Kim, clearly confused, said as calmly as he could. "I am, um," he gave up and replied. "I am speaking to the captain."
"Don't get started with me young man." Snapped the captain. By then, the rest of the bridge crew were casting confused looks at each other and inching away from the captain. "You failed to relinquish command immediately upon my arrival. That is a complete breach of protocol"
Harry barely hesitate when he replied. "Sir, I didn't have a chance to-
"That's not an excuse, Ensign Kim." Reprimanded Janeway harshly. "Don't call me Sir, Ensign Kim. She lightened up ever so slightly. "And don't you ever make me call you that again."
Thoroughly confused, Harry said. "Call me what, captain?"
Without a reply, Janeway turned on her heel and walked smartly to the conference room. Senior staff meeting. Now." With that, she stalked off with the doors snapping shut behind her. Harry looked to his friends for help. All he received was a couple of shrugs from Chakotay and Tom. Steeling himself, he walked into the meeting room.
Janeway and the rest of the officers were standing behind their usual positions. Even the holodoc and Neelix were there. Harry started to take his place when Janeway blocked his path. The captain placed her hands on her hips. "You've disappointed me Harry."
Wincing slightly, Harry gathered up all his bravery reserves to ask. "Captain, if it's about the Cloaking devise I can explain. I take full responsibility for my actions and the crew's. I ordered the cloak to be built and activated. I know it went against a lot of treaties, but-
"Ensign Kim." Snapped Janeway. "I was not speaking about the cloaking device." Her face lightened extraordinarily. "If anything, I'd say that plan was pretty good under those circumstances." Admitted Janeway. "I don't see Starfleet Command complaining about the cloaking device, do you? They're 63 thousand light years away."
"Captain?"
"Ensign Kim." Repeated Janeway. She relaxed by several hundred degrees. She smiled at Harry. "I've examined your file. You've contributed tremendously to this crew. Your record contains numerous commendations and not to mention, a single, reprimand in a total of 9 years in Starfleet. Commendable. You have gone above and light years beyond the call of duty. You've saved this crew countless times, not to mention dying for this crew more then 3 times. Mr. Kim, you have to be one of the most dedicated and the most over looked officer I know."
Harry was completely perplexed. He certainly didn't expect this. He thought he was most likely to be yelled at then praised. He managed to stammer out. "Sir?"
Janeway sighed. "Don't call me that, Ensign Kim. And don't make me call you that either."
"Call me what?"
"Ensign."
Harry opened his mouth to ask something but decided against it.
Janeway straightened up to formal attention. On years of Starfleet training and reflex, Harry copied the stance. To his amazement, the other senior officers circled around the table followed suit. At least they know what's going on. Thought Harry. I sure don't.
"Ensign Harry Kim. Let the record show that on Stardate 47474.7 I Captain Kathryn Janeway Commanding officer of the Federation Starship USS Voyager, I hearby recognize commendations contributed by Harry Kim through full promotion to the rank of full Lieutenant with all rights, responsibilities and privileges. Congratulations. Lieutenant Kim." Janeway smiled at Harry's astonished face. She stepped up closer to him and with one hand shook his hand while the other pinned the second gold pip to his collar.
The now Lieutenant Kim was still in shock. Usually things didn't leave this much of an impact on him, but this, this was different. A million things ran though the Lieutenant's mind. He could barely catch up with the speed of things. He had to give his mind a nanosecond to catch up. Who? What? Me? A promotion? Lieutenant? Uh. Lieutenant Kim? Congrats? Me? Oh. Uh. Wow?! Harry returned the shake with a firm grip. He smiled still astonished at the captain. "Thank you captain."
Janeway smiled back at him. "Don't thank me, Harry. You earned it long ago."
By now the whole room was applauding, and thanks to Tom, a few whoops and whistles of excitement.
Tom bounded over to him and clapped him hard on the back. "Way to go Harry!"
"Congrat's Starfleet." Added B'Elanna hi-fiveing him.
Before he knew it, he was shaking Chakotay's hand. "Congratulations Harry."
"Thanks commander."
"Watch out Chakotay." Called tom. "I bet Harry's got his eye on your job now."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Hey, it took me 5 years to get to Lieutenant. I don't even want to think how long it's gonna take me to get to commander." Harry joked.
Harry spotted seven coming toward him. "Congratulations ens-, Mr. Ki-, Harry-, Lieutenant Kim on your promotion." She looked slightly flustered from fumbling with his name.
"Hey, thanks Seven." Harry grinned at Seven.
"Welcome to the lieutenants club, Harry." Joked B'Elanna. "Me and Tuvok were starting to get lonely."
Tom crossed his arms. "Hey."
"No offence intended, Tom." Added B'Elanna.
Laughing at Tom's fake hurt look he shook his head. Not being able to resist any longer, Harry's right hand crept up to his collar to finger the tiny gold pips.
"Ah ha!" cried Tom. He whipped around to face B'Elanna. "I told you. I win."
B'Elanna folded her arms and grumbled. "Fine. Fine."
"What?' asked Harry.
Tom grinned. " I bet B'Elanna dinner if you touched the pips with in 5 minutes. It is now 5 minutes since you got them. B'Elanna pays for dinner."
"You bet on me?" said Harry incredulously.
"Yeah."
"Figures." Laughed Harry. He subconsciously touched the pips again. He felt his good old ensign full gold pip along with the new one. Two pips with out a dark cut in the middle. Wait a minute here. thought Harry.
"Full Lieutenant?" questioned Harry.
"What. Do you want me to demote you to Jg?" asked Janeway.
"Uh, Harry, don't say anything. She'll actually do it." Cautioned Tom tapping his ensign insignia.
"I skipped one?" repeated Harry. He quickly added. "Uh, not that I want it changed of anything."
"Yes, and it's not a mistake. It's not often a grade's skipped but, I'd say this was a special circumstance." Janeway replied. "First of all, I needed to fix the Chain of command. We had a Lieutenant Jg and two ensigns on the senior staff. Second, I found so many reasons to promote you to Jg I made it Full Lt. You deserve it Harry."
Harry blushed. "Aw, I wouldn't-
'Don't you even think of going modest on us." Threatened B'Elanna. They laughed.
"Come on." Neelix took Harry's arm an led him to the door. Harry stumbled thought the door.
"Wha? Where are we going?"
Janeway clapped his shoulder. "Tuvok had a Promotion roast, I don't see why you can't."
Tom followed them out of the briefing room. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. "Three cheers for Lieutenant Kim."
The bridge applauded. Hamilton, who was at the helm called. "You owe me those rations, Lang."
"I know, I know." Grumbled Lang casting an embarrassed look at Harry who said.
"You bet on me too?"
Hamilton answered for her. "No offence, lieutenant but the whole crew was in on the pool."
"For how long?!" asked Harry.
Hamilton flushed. "Um, for about 5 years now."
Harry clapped his hand over his eyes as he was ushered into the turbolift. "I didn't want to know."
"-and one time, me and B'Elanna hooked up Harry's quarters to vent fumes -er, smells from the mess hall into his room" Laughed tom. "No offence Neelix. It was the day the stove overloaded and the lunch got burned."
"None taken." Said Neelix.
Harry frowned. "Ugh, I couldn't get the stink out for days."
"Oh, how about that time when you adopted the spotted look." Said Chakotay referring to the little stint with the Tiresians.
"Yeah spot." Piped up B'Elanna referring to one of his nicknames.
"Jeeze, I don't want to get into that." Said Harry groaning.
"Mr. Kim." Said the holodoc. "I think you hold the record for having the most entries in a medical record." He shot a glance at Tom. "Well perhaps Mr. Paris holds that record."
"Gee thanks doc." Said tom rolling his eyes.
"Seriously." Said the doctor. "Poor Mr. Kim has inflicted with alien diseases at least 4 times-
"-shot at." Added Neelix.
"-sent to prison." Added Tom.
"-sent into parallel dimensions." Added Janeway.
"-survive the wrath of having the captain yell at you." Added Chakotay before receiving a playful shove form the captain.
"-die in a alien stasis pod then get revived." Said B'Elanna.
"-pronounced dead from a hull breach, then be replaced by a parallel counterpart." Added Tuvok.
"You know, Lieutenant Kim." Said The doctor. "I checked your medical files a short time ago and discovered traces of cardiac arrest, and basic systems failure several times."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Gee, that's reassuring."
"Oh, before I forget," said B'Elanna turning to Tom. "I want that helm control report on my desk tomorrow morning for evaluation."
Tom groaned.
"And I'll expect that report on MY desk at 0500." Said Harry, exercising his new found ranking.
"I'll expect that OPS report on MY desk by 0600." Added the captain.
Chakotay laughed. "At least we got that Chain of command straightened out. I remember when ensign Vorik had to check with at least a dozen people to find out who to report to for a certain duty assignment. He couldn't figure out if it was Tom, Harry or B'Elanna."
Harry laughed. "That was a sight. I've never seen a Vulcan so confused in my life."
"I concur, Lieutenant." Said Tuvok.
"Care to elaborate." Shot back Harry.
"Not at all, lieutenant." Said Tuvok receiving chuckles from the others.
Harry got up to get another bottle of replicated synthohol. As he rounded the mess hall counter, Seven of Nine walked up to him. "Ens- , lieutenant Kim. I must ask you something."
"Shoot." Seven lifted an eyebrow. "I meant, go ahead."
"On the bridge, during the attack. You did something that confused me."
"What?"
"You kissed me. I believe that was on impulse. Why?"
"Uh," Harry blushed red. "Like you said, on impulse. I guess I felt the need to, uh, celebrate?"
"So, kissing me is what you call form of celebration."
"Uh, I guess so. I was caught up in the mood. Voyager had a chance to survive because of you, I felt happy and did something irrational. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
Seven looked intently at Harry Kim. "Do not feel sorry. It was a good cause to celebrate. Is this a good time to celebrate?"
Harry was completely flustered. "Uh, um."
Before he could protest, Seven kissed Harry deeply on the lips. A few seconds later Seven and Harry broke off. Harry's eyes widened slightly. "I uh."
"Congratulations on your promotion, Harry."
"Th-thanks." Seven started to walk off when Harry decided to act on one last impulse. "Hey Sev!" The ex-borg turned around. "I don't suppose you're doing anything for dinner tomorrow?"
"I am not. Do you have anything in mind?"
"A trip to the holodeck for a picnic dinner? Around 0800? Is that acceptable?"
"Seven thought for a second. "Yes. It is a date then, Harry." She walled back to the group of officers.
Harry was still in shock. When he walked back to the party, Tom clapped him hard on the back. Apparently he was eavesdropping. "Way to go Harry! You musta had some day!"
Harry shook his head and grinned. "Nope. Just another day on Voyager
Tom. Just another day."
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